Blogs May 13, 2010 at 8:37 am

Comments

1
JJ Putz is an actual name that a person has? That's amazing.
2
Screw that LaRue guy. He deserves to be blackballed, even if Junior is cut by the team ten minutes from now.
3
The M's are so bad this season, the only thing keeping me entertained is Junior sleeping in the clubhouse & Miltie's breakdown.

While I find it difficult to believe that Silva won't win another game in the next 40+ days, anything is possible with the Cubbies (fingers crossed)

Looks like another season where the Sounders beat the M's in average attendance.
4
Did you see where the M's are now giving the Tacoma reporter who broke the story of Junior's napping the silent treatment? Someone (maybe Cliff Lee) claims that he challenged the unnamed players who tattled to a fight and no one stepped forward, therefore the story is a big lie.

I can't remember the last time a team with such high hopes imploded so quickly.
5
Oops, it was Mike Sweeney.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_lea…

Cliff Lee was just leading the silent treatment.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/0…
6
The real dysfunction is that Mariners Management won't terminate an employee that physically threatens other employees. Only the SPD allows that kind of crap to go on. Can you imagine openly challenging a co-worker to a fight in the middle of a company meeting?

And the demand that LaRue allow Griffey editorial control over his story before running it is idiotic. If the subject of any story is allowed to control a journalist's story, it becomes a press release, not reporting.

The apocryphal stories of Griffey napping, then grabbing a bat and hitting a homer are hopelessly false. He has 6 total pinch hit homers in his career, and prior to 2009, he'd never done much DH'ing. There just isn't enough cases of him not playing, then jumping up to hit a homer for it to be true as often as reporters are hinting.
7
Matt from Denver: Chicago Fan cited the whole sitch right there in his post, y'know.

And Peter F, your notion of what reporters are supposed to not report on is very different from mine.
8
Somehow I missed Peter F's comment. So, a guy who's covered the M's for 28 years has no credibility all of a sudden? You're a fucking fool.
9
@ 7, sorry, I have a bad habit of not reading CF's posts thoroughly.
10
Oh yeah, and the notion that the M's got this over-the-top protect-your-teammate crap from Bradley? Yeeaaahhh that seems likely. Especially since he's not even in the clubhouse right now.
11
@8, as an admittedly irrational fan I am pissed at LaRue for kicking the team (and to a lesser extent, Griffey) when they are down.

Serious question: what was served by reporting the gossip of disgruntled players? Why shouldn't the entire organization refuse to speak to LaRue from now on?
12
@ 11, again, it's a matter of credibility. LaRue has covered this team for longer than many of its members have been alive. He reported this because it's news. Do you think he'd run with it if he didn't find the reports credible? He had two witnesses.

What was served? What kind of question is that? News is news, and you're better served when it's reported than when it is not. BTW, how do you know that the players who spoke were "disgruntled?"

If boycotting LaRue gives the team something to rally around, something to heal the divisions, good for them. But that doesn't mean that the story wasn't true, or that fans should suddenly trust the M's Mafia-like code of silence more than someone who's spent more than a quarter century in their lockerroom.
13
Matt @12, I retract my "disgruntled" qualifier. I still wish LaRue had left bad enough alone.

Was he really "reporting news" in what was billed as "commentary" at the News-Tribune, or was he editorializing, based on unsourced hearsay? I ask because I honestly have no idea what counts as news reporting or journalistic integrity these days. I guess that's because I'm a "fucking fool".

As a fan, I was already having a miserable season, and the national media firestorm that this celebrated beat reporter from Tacoma (who I'd never heard of in almost 20 years of following the team) kicked off made it just that much more miserable. Even if Griffey wasn't a big headache for the team already, LaRue sure made sure that he was, and now I guess he can "report" on that.
14
Alright, Peter. I apologize for calling you a name. That wasn't fair.

And you have a point if it was reported first in an editorial. (I haven't actually read the original story, so that's news to me.) However, I do remember LaRue's name on bylines of stories about the M's over the years and while I can't recall anything specific, I got no impression that he was a hack who the M's tolerated. I'm giving credit to that, plus the fact that none of the stories about this brouhaha mention any past incidents featuring LaRue. That must mean that there haven't been any. That must mean that he's been trustworthy up til this point.

Basically, what I'm saying is, if he said he was told Griffey was napping, then he was told Griffey was napping. It doesn't matter that it was in an editorial.

Remember: Don't shoot the messenger. This only became a firestorm because of Junior's stature in the game. That's not LaRue's fault.

I can tell you're much more passionate about the M's than I am (although they're still my AL team) and I know it sucks when stuff like this happens, but again, a reporter isn't doing his job when he sits on news. He owes his allegiance to his readers, not to the people on his beat.
15
Baseball? Um, are they playing?

Sorry, I was just reading the cover article about the World Cup in Vanity Fair ...
16
Matt, I can't argue with anything you said, all I'm saying is that I don't appreciate this guy stirring (more) shit up. I really wish Griffey had retired after last season, but failing that, wish he could have been left alone to bow out and retire ASAP, without this hanging over him (and us) at the end of his career. I don't care whether he was sleeping in the dugout (not like he was going to hit in that situation anyway).
17
Larue reported on something he was told, not something he knew or something he independently verified. That makes it hearsay, and it makes it crappy reporting. And the ONLY reason he reported it was because it involved Griffey - cheap shot.

Pretty crappy-ass 'journalism' there, IMHO. I'd be pissed too, and would be cold-shouldering this guy for the forseeable future, too.
18
@ 17, you know nothing about journalism. Please, never comment on the topic again.
19
ESPN is reporting LaRue was working on a story about Griffey's season and accidentally published the blog post before finishing the story.

ESPN also says LaRue felt bad about publishing the post before talking to Wakamatsu or Griffey, and tried to retract the story, but the newspaper refused.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story…

I'm thinking that Griffey was asleep in the clubhouse at some point during the season, but not necessarily the game mentioned in the blog.


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